Choosing eye glasses for men

Last Updated on Tuesday, 16 November 2010 22:31 Thursday, 11 November 2010 12:54

We're not all blessed with 20/20 vision. Wearing glasses is a necessary evil for some. So if you are one of the millions that must don 'eye-wear,' a bit of knowledge about how to match glasses to your face, image and lifestyle goes a long way to picking the perfect glasses.

The first consideration is the face. Picking eye-glasses is not so much about deciding on the shape of glasses, but knowing what the shape of your face is.

Oval Face

This is the perfect face. Everything is in proportion. Therefore the glasses you choose should also be in proportion. Glasses should be at least as wide as the widest part of the face. Pick anything narrower and you'll transform your face into an oblong shape. If you have an oval face, any type of eye glasses should suit you, so concentrate on matching frame color to eye, skin and hair color.

Oblong Face

Oblong faces are long, like an extended oval face. Use glasses to make the face appear more oval and shorter. Decorative glasses add depth to the face and glasses with a low bridge shorten the nose.

Round Face

Can't really describe this, suffice to say that your face is round! Narrow frames with angular lines will straighten the face. Rectangular shapes are great for round faces.

Base-down Triangle

A narrow forehead widens at the cheeks and chins giving an approximate 'base-down' triangle shape to the face. The goal here is to widen the upper area of the face. Glasses that draw attention to the eye area should therefore be chosen - think colored glasses, strong and decorative frames, particularly at the top of the glasses.

Base-up Triangle.

A base-up triangular face is the opposite of the base-down shape. The eye and forehead area is wide, while below the nose and chin area is narrow. Glasses should narrow the top of the face and widen the base. Frames that are slightly wider at the bottom, frameless glasses, or glasses with no frame at the top are all suitable for the base-up triangle face. If you want to be really brave, get glasses that are framed at the bottom, but frameless at the top. These will help to strengthen the base of the face.

Diamond face

A diamond face has its widest point at the cheek bones. The eyeline and jawline are narrower. Glasses should be used to highlight the eyes, so strong frames over the lenses are good as are oval or cat-eye shape glasses.

Square Face

A wide forehead and strong jaw line mark the square face. The goal is to lenghten the face and make it appear more oval. Choose narrow frames or oval glasses.

Color of glasses

The color of glasses is guided by the color of the person - skin color, eye color and hair color. 

Surprisingly, skin color does not mean white, tanned or colored. Skin color refers to the type of complexion a person has. Blue (cool) or yellow (warm) are the two tones of the skin. A cool skin has blue or pink undertones, and a warm complexion has a peachy or cream undertone. 

Once you have decided whether you are cool or warm you can then pick frame color. Cool skin suits frames that are black, plum, magenta, pink, jade, blue in color. Warm skin tones suit gold, copper, peaqch, orange, off-white, red, warm-blues in color.

Hair and Eye color

Glasses normally look best when they match the color of the eyes and hair - so blue eyes look best with blue glasses. But the shape of the face should be the guiding factor. Whether you want to draw attention to the eye area (with strong color glasses) or tone down the eye area (with soft colors or framesless spectacles) will guide your choice of color - If you can then pick a pair that compliments your eyes and hair after that, then go for it! Dark hair goes best with metal or dark frames. Blonde hair is good with transparent or very light frames. Redheads are good to go with any color except white or yellow.



Finally, pay attention to the size of the glasses. They should match the size of your eyesockets. For instance, the top of the glasses should not extend above the eyebrows, nor sink below into the socket of eye. Avoid narrow glasses (narrow in the sense of top to bottom) if they end up looking like a strip of glass running through the center of the eye-socket.